OklahomaHorses Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

26 OklahomaHorses • November/December 2020 A s winter approaches, many horse owners start preparation for the upcoming season by washing blankets, checking water bucket heaters and making sure they have enough hay. Checking the body condition score of your horse in the fall is a helpful tool in preparing for the winter season; some charts use a one through 10 scale while others use a zero through five. Regardless, horses that fall within the lower scores (poor to thin range) are going to struggle to stay as warm and healthy as a horse in the upper half of the scale (moderate to fat). Please schedule an appointment with your local veterinarian to help identify where your horse falls on the scale, and he or she can help you form a plan for your horse’s individual dietary needs. Another consideration is, with the advancements in science and nutrition, our horses are on average living to be much older than ever before. With these advanced ages come requirements we may not be used to dealing with. Horses tend to move around much less in the winter. Some horses, regardless of paddock size, will only venture out as far as the nearest source of forage available whether it is a round bale or a hay feeder with square bales put inside it. As owners, we tend to ride much less as it gets too unpleasant to ride outside. We also tend to want our beloved steeds to be warm and cozy in a box stall or small paddock, but this further limits their movement. Poorer-bodied horses are already struggling to maintain warmth and proper nutrients to their vital organs in the best of weather conditions; this lack of movement will slow down the horse’s circulatory system and reduce nutrients to the hooves, slowing down foot growth. Other factors contribute to slower hoof growth as well. Horses are very sensitive to photo periods, and as days get shorter, they start slowing down the nutrients to their hooves and push those nutrients to their winter hair coats. As a hoof care professional, we must start to take a few things into consideration when preparing for winter. First, will the horse be wearing shoes, or will it be barefoot? And what activities will he be performing? Will the horse get the winter months off, or will he still be in training or showing? Next, what will be the horse’s environment during this time, and also what foot quality does this horse have genetically? Granted, we obviously cannot change the genetics of a horse, but the information can help us in determining how to best help the animal to be comfortable in its job and environment. Diagram 1 shows a sagittal section of a foot. The red arrow points to the sole and just how little there is for a 1,000-plus-pound animal to stand on. When the sole gets too thin—whether it is from over-usage, genetics, over-trimming, etc.—then the horse is susceptible to sole pain and bruises from the ground, especially when the ground becomes frozen. In Diagram 2 , the black arrow shows the blood that surrounds the coffin bone. This blood actually acts as a cushioning mechanism to the coffin bone upon impact with the ground. There is quite a bit more that happens with the circulatory system in the foot with each phase of movement of the horse, but for this topic, this is the most pertinent information needed. If a horse’s sole becomes too thin, the capillaries that are underneath the bone become pinched off and compromised. This limits the amount of WINTER HOOF CARE: Common Issues and Solutions WRITTEN BY: Craig Stark, B.S., CJF, DipWCF Diagram 1: Sagittal section of a horse hoof Diagram 2: Blood surrounding the coffin bone acts as a cushion